‘Caridon Property Ltd v Monty Shooltz. Central London County Court. 2 February 2018 (from note of judgment). This was an appeal to a circuit judge of a first instance decision of District Judge Bloom (who is an experienced housing lawyer). The circuit judge was HHJ Jan Luba QC (a very experienced housing lawyer).’

‘Brent Council v Shah and Others, unreported 29 January 2018 (Crown Ct (Harrow). The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘POCA’) has been successfully used by Brent Council against landlords for breach of licencing conditions.’

‘Robinson (Appellant) v Chief Constable of the West Yorkshire Police (Respondent) [2018] UKSC 4. The Supreme Court has made a significant decision on the question of the scope of the common law duty of care owed by police when their activities lead to injuries being sustained by members of the public. It has long been the case that a claim cannot be brought in negligence against the police, where the danger is created by someone else, except in certain unusual circumstances such as where there has been an assumption of responsibility.’

‘In the case of Legg and others v Burton and others [2017] EWHC 2088 (Ch) the claimants, children of Mrs Clark, successfully established a constructive trust under the doctrine of mutual wills. This had the effect of making invalid the 13 subsequent wills the deceased made between 2004 and 2014, after her husband died. It was held by His Honour Judge Matthews in the Chancery Division of the Bristol District Registry that the wills Mrs Clark made with her husband in mirror terms in 2000 were mutual wills and as such there was a binding agreement with her husband, which she could not go back on after his death.’

‘A man who raped a teenager on two occasions in the early 2000s has been convicted today (9 February) in one of a series of trials connected to allegations of child sexual abuse in Rotherham. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.’

‘Avoid the pitfalls of probabilistic reasoning and examine expert evidence with more confidence: Colin McCaul QC introduces new guidance from the Inns of Court College of Advocacy and the Royal Statistical Society.’

‘Junior barristers, now more than ever, face a world which looks increasingly uncertain. Rick Hoyle, Chair of the Young Barristers’ Committee, looks at the worrying trend and what is being done about it.’

‘The Church of England faces two years of revelations about sexual abuse and cover-ups, a bishop has said. The Church will be the focus of hearings at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse next month.’

‘Police wrongly pursued a rape case against a retired fire chief rather than investigate a blackmail claim against the fantasist who made the allegation, the Telegraph can disclose. David Bryant, 67, spent almost three years in jail after being convicted of rape in a miscarriage of justice that further plunges into crisis the police handling of sex abuse cases. Mr Bryant’s conviction was overturned in the Court of Appeal and now a High Court judge has raised serious questions over a police force’s failure to investigate his accuser.’

‘More than a dozen police forces have outsourced digital forensic investigative work to unaccredited private laboratories in the past year, at a time when a series of rape cases have been abandoned because of problems with digital evidence.’

‘Changes to England’s planning policy could finally come into effect this summer, more than a year after initial legislation was published, as housebuilders pin difficulties getting more homes built on the complicated system.’